Just heard back from the shop - some positive and negative feedback... Positive -Convertible top opens, closes and locks flawlessly -Engine starts and runs flawlessly -F1 gearbox shifts like normal through all gears -Engine cover, hood and entire left side is not damaged Negative -Upper/lower control arms are shot -Gas tank needs replaced -Upper frame (engine cradle) has slight bend on right side. Will most likely need to pull engine/tranny to fix -All underbody pans are shot -Tie rods need replaced Next step is to get the car up on a frame jig and take measurements to ensure the frame isn't bent, but upon initial inspection it appears that everything is in alignment (fact that convertible top runs as normal is a good sign).
Fixed properly, I'm going to wager $65k. I didn't even read the whole thread, but the pictures are pretty self explanatory. I personally witnessed less visible damage from a similar event, and the tally was $80k.
Very good sign! On balance, not too bad. Oh Daniel, I see those $ signs spinning in your eyes right now. My guess is far less than that.
WTF is wrong with you guys? What kind of advice are you giving him? He can just send it to Florida and the honest dealers here will wash up the title nice and clean and sell it at better than full price to some out of town sucker visiting Lauderdale on vacation. Problem solved!!! I wonder about you people sometimes... RMX
He's paying cash.......no records that way. I had to do that once as a kid when I pranged a Rent a car......... I'm no structural engineer and I have ZERO experience with the new cars, so understand my opinion on the wheels was just thinking out loud. I had a casting fail on one of my street cars and my Porsche buddies teased me: "Well, they engineered it to steer the car, not bounce over curbs....." I had driven over a poorly marked storm inlet a few blocks from home and it snapped the front suspension all to pieces....
REMIX has the right idea!! jk Hopefully the damage doesn't get into the $65k range, but we'll shell out whatever is needed to get make the car correct.
Oh, to give you comfort the story I told in the post above was on a new car I had just purchased as well! My new Trans Am was on the lift at Pontiac for weeks as the company and my insurers argued over what had happened. In the end, like you are doing the car was properly repaired and driven....oh.........148,655 miles, last time I looked, it's still parked in Mom's driveway!
I'll wager 85k in parts (if you buy all new parts from Ricambi!) and at least 30k to fix. If you buy used parts, then probably 1/2 of that, and then do all the work yourself, then you are looking at a much lower bill, but longer to get fixed. If someone else fixes it? At least 6months before you get the car back, if you are lucky. When I totalled mine(coupe, not spider) , it was WAY less damage than this and it was 54k in parts and 15k in labor. Insurance company totaled it as it was very close to 75% value of car and with a 'supplement' (after body work fixed, there might be something later you find out is broken), they were too scared not to total it. I took the money and bought another(even better than my first one). After I got over the shock of it, I realized it was the best thing that could happen. Who wants a car that is worth 100k and has had at least 80k of work done on it, and then who knows if it will ever drive the same again. Unfortunately, by any insurance companies way of thinking, this car is totaled. Hunter
Welcome to the thread, you missed a fine point, Sir. This is an uninsured loss, occurring on Track, for which he is taking financial resposibilty himself.. So there's no "totalled", no "carrier" and more to the legal points, no "Salvage Title" or "diminished value".. I for one see it as kind of heart warming, like the old days, when you bought the car from Enzo, used it as it was intended, and phoned back for some parts as your fortunes required!! Drive on.....
I think your estimate should be compared to actual once he's finished, but that dislosure is totally at his option.......
You really need to consider your other options before getting this car repaired. Like others have mentioned, a 2001 Spider (not spyder...) can be purchased for 120-140k. I don't know how many miles are on your car, but lets just go with a high replacement cost of 140k. If you are going to be in the 70-80k price range to sell the car, AND you will clearly have diminished value on resale (assume 20k?) you are taking a huge loss. If you can sell the car damaged for 50k, I suggest you do it, since financially you will be ahead of the game on just buying a new one....50k sale price, 70k repair cost saved, 20k diminished value...thats 140k...
Yeah, I knew that. I just thought I would interject another opinion from someone that has totaled their car recently and spent hundreds of hours dealing with the results and learning more about smashed up Ferrari's than I wanted to know(there are ALOT of crashed 360's out there in the For sale market right now!). Actually, what I have come to conclude (correct or not) is that there are a high percentage of 360's that have been crashed. I can point you to about 10-15 that are for sale in the used market right now that have obviously been repaired from crash damage(if you know what to look for). In my case? Thank god for insurance. Hunter
Certainly not what I wanted to hear, but I appreciate the honesty nonetheless everyone. Totaling the car out is not being ruled out by any means; we're basically doing our due diligence at this point to see what the estimate comes to. Jsanocki - you've got the same mindset as me my friend, if the costs of fixing the car get above a certain point, it's a much better option to sell the car as-is and apply the savings towards a new car that we're confident hasn't been wrecked. As for the final estimate, I'll surely pass along to the board.
Didn't you park this car in front of the Hyde Park Grille in the Short North at the previous Saturday night Gallery Hop? If not, there's a clone of your car running around here in CMH. I was also on the track during the first Mid-Ohio session, but by the time I came around to the back straight, all of the drama was over. I passed the car and had a quick glance at it as I passed, but for the life of me could not figure out then (and still can't now!) how it was the passenger's side of the car that hit something. There's not much at that location of the track on that side of the straight which it seemed to me that you could have hit. Aside from that, is NJB doing the body work? If so, I suspect that you are in good hands, but I personally was unaware that they did body work - thought they were more of a mechanical shop than a body shop. Seems like a key piece of the "WTF" puzzle has not yet been offered - what's the brand and model of the tire on the RR side? And how much tread was there? In any case. best of luck with your repairs! There but for the Grace of God go I! Cheers - DM
Dave - there must be a clone running around Columbus, because it was not our car parked in front of Hyde Park Grille. Reason for the damage to the right side of the car - tire blew and sent us into a spin on the back straight; when the car hit the wall, we had fully spun around so we were facing backwards when the car hit the barrier on the left side of the track. We were careening down the track sideways (with front of car facing concrete barrier) for 100 yds I'd guess, then the car spun fully around once we got into the grass/dirt. Right rear tire is Michelin 275/40 ZR18 with approx. 90% tread remaining
Just out of curiosity, any idea how old the tires are? If original (2001) they probably are just OLD.
What could they be trying to cover up with an over inflated tire? Once you notices the psi in that tire, did you let some of the air out? Seems to me like you are just looking for someone to blame for your own mistake..[/QUOTE] Glad you are OK..but sounds like the "tire blew" after you lost control at high speed on the track with your Dad's 360 Spider. I could be wrong......
I have a 2003 Mitsubishi Evo VIII as a track car. About a year ago I ordered new rims and tires. When I mounted them on the car and went for a test drive the car handled terrible. The tires had been inflated to within 5 psi of the max pressure and not to what was recommended by Mitsubishi on the door jam. If a rear tire was over inflated it would be subject to more heat in the center when braking and cornering than the rest of the tires. At 120mph the fact that you and your Dad still get to spend time together is amazing. That kind of speed is why I have started with an Evo. 120mph can seem like your sitting still but if something goes wrong your in deep. I don't think the dealer was trying to cover something up. The car would have to drive like a crab to require that big a difference in how it tracked on the road. It's hard to believe you didn't notice the odd handling before you got to the track. I should have driven terrible with that big a difference in tire pressure. On the plus side now that you will have to get it repaired you can turn it into a track car, get a roll cage, and proper tires. Good Luck Pete
Good question - what exactly do you look for? Based on a few previous posts, sounds like our best option might be to sell the car as-is and apply the $$ saved on not repairing the current car towards a new Spider. Assuming we go this route, would be great to know what to look out for (especially since there are apparently quite a few wrecked 360s out there).
